fix(graph): typed ApiStatusError transient classification; warn on bare output_schema

is_transient_error: a typed crate::client::ApiStatusError anywhere in the
chain is now authoritative (positive and negative) — catch_error renders
429s as "… (type: rate_limit_error)" / "… (status: 429)", which none of
the old string anchors matched, so provider rate limits were never
retried, while a 400 whose body mentioned "rate limit" was. Transient
statuses: 429, 500, 502, 503, 504, 529; message text only classifies
untyped errors, and those anchors are now case-insensitive.

validator: warn for an llm/agent node whose output_schema lacks a
non-empty object `properties` map (auto-merge writes nothing since
402d25a) unless the node lifts keys via a non-empty state_updates; the
same absent-or-empty predicate now also gates validate_fallback_capture.
Bundled and graph.example.yaml warning baselines are unchanged.

Tests build the 429 fixture through real catch_error output and a
.context() chain, cover the status table, typed-overrides-text, and all
validator branches.

src/graph/mod.rs

@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ pub(crate) fn wall_clock(secs: u64) -> Option<Duration> {
     (secs != 0).then(|| Duration::from_secs(secs))
 }
 
+/// An HTTP status in the chain is authoritative — message text never
+/// overrides it. String anchors are only consulted for untyped errors.
 pub(crate) fn is_transient_error(err: &Error) -> bool {
     if err.chain().any(|c| {
         c.downcast_ref::<reqwest::Error>()
@@ -43,20 +45,34 @@ pub(crate) fn is_transient_error(err: &Error) -> bool {
     }) {
         return true;
     }
-    let s = format!("{err:#}");
+    if let Some(api) = err
+        .chain()
+        .find_map(|c| c.downcast_ref::<crate::client::ApiStatusError>())
+    {
+        return is_transient_status(api.status);
+    }
+    let s = format!("{err:#}").to_lowercase();
     s.contains("timed out")
         || s.contains("rate limit")
-        || s.contains("HTTP 429")
+        || s.contains("http 429")
         || s.contains("status 429")
-        || s.contains("429 Too Many")
-        || s.contains("Connection reset")
-        || s.contains("Connection refused")
+        || s.contains("429 too many")
+        || s.contains("connection reset")
+        || s.contains("connection refused")
         || s.contains("produced no output")
         || s.contains("broken pipe")
         || s.contains("connection error")
         || s.contains("error sending request")
 }
 
+/// Transient HTTP statuses worth a from-scratch retry: 429 (rate limit),
+/// 500/502/503/504 (upstream hiccups), 529 (Anthropic overloaded).
+/// Deterministic statuses — 4xx other than 429 (including 408) and
+/// 501/505-class capability errors — are excluded.
+fn is_transient_status(status: u16) -> bool {
+    matches!(status, 429 | 500 | 502 | 503 | 504 | 529)
+}
+
 pub const MAX_STATE_SIZE_BYTES: usize = 32 * 1024;
 
 pub(in crate::graph) fn type_name(value: &Value) -> &'static str {
@@ -127,6 +143,71 @@ mod tests {
         )));
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn is_transient_error_sees_typed_api_status_429_through_context_chain() {
+        let data = serde_json::json!({
+            "error": {
+                "type": "rate_limit_error",
+                "message": "Too many requests, please slow down"
+            }
+        });
+        let err = crate::client::catch_error(&data, 429)
+            .unwrap_err()
+            .context("Failed to call chat-completions api")
+            .context("Agent 'domain-reviewer' failed");
+
+        let rendered = format!("{err:#}");
+        assert!(
+            !is_transient_error(&anyhow!("{rendered}")),
+            "the rendered text alone must not be transient — proves the typed arm is what catches it"
+        );
+        assert!(is_transient_error(&err));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn is_transient_error_typed_status_overrides_message_text() {
+        let err = crate::client::catch_error(
+            &serde_json::json!({ "message": "rate limit reached — connection reset" }),
+            400,
+        )
+        .unwrap_err();
+        assert!(
+            !is_transient_error(&err),
+            "typed 400 must not be retried even when the body matches string anchors"
+        );
+
+        let err = crate::client::catch_error(&serde_json::json!({ "message": "x" }), 503)
+            .unwrap_err()
+            .context("Agent 'x' failed");
+        assert!(is_transient_error(&err));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn is_transient_error_typed_status_table() {
+        let data = serde_json::json!({ "message": "x" });
+        for status in [429, 500, 502, 503, 504, 529] {
+            let err = crate::client::catch_error(&data, status).unwrap_err();
+            assert!(
+                is_transient_error(&err),
+                "status {status} should be transient"
+            );
+        }
+        for status in [400, 401, 403, 404, 408, 422, 501, 505] {
+            let err = crate::client::catch_error(&data, status).unwrap_err();
+            assert!(
+                !is_transient_error(&err),
+                "status {status} should not be transient"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn is_transient_error_string_anchors_are_case_insensitive() {
+        assert!(is_transient_error(&anyhow!("Rate Limit reached")));
+        assert!(is_transient_error(&anyhow!("Request Timed Out")));
+        assert!(is_transient_error(&anyhow!("connection reset by peer")));
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test(start_paused = true)]
     async fn is_transient_error_recognizes_typed_elapsed_without_matching_text() {
         let elapsed = tokio::time::timeout(Duration::from_secs(1), std::future::pending::<()>())

src/graph/validator.rs

@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ impl GraphValidator {
         self.validate_llm_skills(graph, &mut result);
         self.validate_max_attempts(graph, &mut result);
         self.validate_fallback_capture(graph, &mut result);
+        self.validate_output_schema_properties(graph, &mut result);
         self.validate_max_concurrency(graph, &mut result);
         self.validate_max_concurrency_template(graph, &mut result);
         self.validate_orchestration_limits(graph, &mut result);
@@ -399,14 +400,14 @@ impl GraphValidator {
                 NodeType::Llm(l)
                     if l.fallback.is_some()
                         && l.output_schema.is_some()
-                        && l.state_updates.is_none() =>
+                        && !lifts_via_state_updates(&l.state_updates) =>
                 {
                     "llm"
                 }
                 NodeType::Agent(a)
                     if a.fallback.is_some()
                         && a.output_schema.is_some()
-                        && a.state_updates.is_none() =>
+                        && !lifts_via_state_updates(&a.state_updates) =>
                 {
                     "agent"
                 }
@@ -424,6 +425,39 @@ impl GraphValidator {
         }
     }
 
+    fn validate_output_schema_properties(&self, graph: &Graph, result: &mut ValidationResult) {
+        for (node_id, node) in &graph.nodes {
+            let (kind, schema) = match &node.node_type {
+                NodeType::Llm(l) if !lifts_via_state_updates(&l.state_updates) => {
+                    ("llm", l.output_schema.as_ref())
+                }
+                NodeType::Agent(a) if !lifts_via_state_updates(&a.state_updates) => {
+                    ("agent", a.output_schema.as_ref())
+                }
+                _ => continue,
+            };
+            let Some(schema) = schema else {
+                continue;
+            };
+            if schema
+                .get("properties")
+                .and_then(serde_json::Value::as_object)
+                .is_some_and(|m| !m.is_empty())
+            {
+                continue;
+            }
+            result.warning(ValidationError::with_node(
+                node_id,
+                format!(
+                    "{kind} node's `output_schema` declares no (non-empty) object `properties`; \
+                     the engine auto-merges ONLY keys declared under `properties` (a bare \
+                     object schema merges nothing) — declare the keys under \
+                     `properties` or lift them via `state_updates`"
+                ),
+            ));
+        }
+    }
+
     fn validate_node_references(&self, graph: &Graph, result: &mut ValidationResult) {
         for (node_id, node) in &graph.nodes {
             for (target, label) in declared_targets(node) {
@@ -1276,6 +1310,10 @@ fn node_state_updates_map(node: &Node) -> Option<&std::collections::HashMap<Stri
     }
 }
 
+fn lifts_via_state_updates(updates: &Option<std::collections::HashMap<String, String>>) -> bool {
+    updates.as_ref().is_some_and(|m| !m.is_empty())
+}
+
 fn node_state_updates_keys(node: &Node) -> Option<HashSet<String>> {
     let updates = match &node.node_type {
         NodeType::Agent(n) => n.state_updates.as_ref(),
@@ -4647,6 +4685,36 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn fallback_with_output_schema_and_empty_state_updates_warns() {
+        let mut node = llm_with_output_schema("l", &["summary"], Some("end"));
+        if let NodeType::Llm(ref mut n) = node.node_type {
+            n.fallback = Some("fb".into());
+            n.state_updates = Some(HashMap::new());
+        }
+        let graph = graph_with(
+            vec![
+                ("l", node),
+                ("fb", end_node("fb")),
+                ("end", end_node("end")),
+            ],
+            "l",
+        );
+
+        let result = validator().validate(&graph);
+
+        assert!(
+            result
+                .warnings
+                .iter()
+                .any(|e| e.node_id.as_deref() == Some("l")
+                    && e.message
+                        .contains("declares `fallback` with `output_schema`")),
+            "expected fallback capture warning: {:?}",
+            result.warnings
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn output_schema_without_fallback_is_not_flagged() {
         let graph = graph_with(
@@ -4667,4 +4735,126 @@ mod tests {
             result.warnings
         );
     }
+
+    fn bare_object_schema_warnings(result: &ValidationResult) -> Vec<&ValidationError> {
+        result
+            .warnings
+            .iter()
+            .filter(|e| {
+                e.message
+                    .contains("declares no (non-empty) object `properties`")
+            })
+            .collect()
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn llm_output_schema_without_properties_warns() {
+        let mut node = llm_node("l", None, Some("end"));
+        if let NodeType::Llm(ref mut n) = node.node_type {
+            n.output_schema = Some(serde_json::json!({ "type": "object" }));
+        }
+        let graph = graph_with(vec![("l", node), ("end", end_node("end"))], "l");
+
+        let result = validator().validate(&graph);
+
+        let warnings = bare_object_schema_warnings(&result);
+        assert_eq!(warnings.len(), 1, "{:?}", result.warnings);
+        assert_eq!(warnings[0].node_id.as_deref(), Some("l"));
+        assert!(warnings[0].message.starts_with("llm node's"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn agent_output_schema_without_properties_warns() {
+        let mut node = agent_node("a", "helper", Some("end"));
+        if let NodeType::Agent(ref mut n) = node.node_type {
+            n.output_schema = Some(serde_json::json!({ "type": "object" }));
+        }
+        let graph = graph_with(vec![("a", node), ("end", end_node("end"))], "a");
+
+        let result = validator().validate(&graph);
+
+        let warnings = bare_object_schema_warnings(&result);
+        assert_eq!(warnings.len(), 1, "{:?}", result.warnings);
+        assert_eq!(warnings[0].node_id.as_deref(), Some("a"));
+        assert!(warnings[0].message.starts_with("agent node's"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn output_schema_with_empty_or_non_object_properties_warns() {
+        for properties in [serde_json::json!({}), serde_json::json!([])] {
+            let mut node = llm_node("l", None, Some("end"));
+            if let NodeType::Llm(ref mut n) = node.node_type {
+                n.output_schema = Some(serde_json::json!({
+                    "type": "object",
+                    "properties": properties,
+                }));
+            }
+            let graph = graph_with(vec![("l", node), ("end", end_node("end"))], "l");
+
+            let result = validator().validate(&graph);
+
+            let warnings = bare_object_schema_warnings(&result);
+            assert_eq!(
+                warnings.len(),
+                1,
+                "properties={properties}: {:?}",
+                result.warnings
+            );
+            assert_eq!(warnings[0].node_id.as_deref(), Some("l"));
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn bare_output_schema_with_state_updates_is_not_flagged() {
+        let mut node = llm_node("l", None, Some("end"));
+        if let NodeType::Llm(ref mut n) = node.node_type {
+            n.output_schema = Some(serde_json::json!({ "type": "object" }));
+            n.state_updates = Some(HashMap::from([("k".into(), "{{output}}".into())]));
+        }
+        let graph = graph_with(vec![("l", node), ("end", end_node("end"))], "l");
+
+        let result = validator().validate(&graph);
+
+        assert!(
+            bare_object_schema_warnings(&result).is_empty(),
+            "{:?}",
+            result.warnings
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn bare_output_schema_with_empty_state_updates_still_warns() {
+        let mut node = llm_node("l", None, Some("end"));
+        if let NodeType::Llm(ref mut n) = node.node_type {
+            n.output_schema = Some(serde_json::json!({ "type": "object" }));
+            n.state_updates = Some(HashMap::new());
+        }
+        let graph = graph_with(vec![("l", node), ("end", end_node("end"))], "l");
+
+        let result = validator().validate(&graph);
+
+        let warnings = bare_object_schema_warnings(&result);
+        assert_eq!(warnings.len(), 1, "{:?}", result.warnings);
+        assert_eq!(warnings[0].node_id.as_deref(), Some("l"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn output_schema_with_properties_or_absent_is_not_flagged() {
+        let graph = graph_with(
+            vec![
+                ("l", llm_with_output_schema("l", &["k"], Some("plain"))),
+                ("plain", llm_node("plain", None, Some("end"))),
+                ("end", end_node("end")),
+            ],
+            "l",
+        );
+
+        let result = validator().validate(&graph);
+
+        assert!(
+            bare_object_schema_warnings(&result).is_empty(),
+            "{:?}",
+            result.warnings
+        );
+    }
 }